Attn:JMS - Are you happy?

[B5JMS Poster]

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From: Kailin Yu <kailin at ibm.net>
Date: 28 Aug 2000 13:45:00 -0700
Lines: 41

JMS posted earlier <snip>
> It's really been an amazing year so far... Tribulations has been the #1
> read on
> bookface.com for three weeks running, City of Dreams is a bonafide hit on
> scifi.com, we closed the deal for me to write the Rising Stars movie for
> MGM,
> and now the series deal is now in place....

Because you sound it. Not only are you busy, but you seem to be saying
only good, positive things. I know that you have been somewhat busy for
the past year and a half or so, but it seemed like something was
missing, a real fire or something. I don't know, but you would post good
things about upcoming projects, but there would often be little hints at
this or that disappointment along with the good news. But now, you are
practically gushing, and you are all over the net again. So, is it that
you are working on something you are really excited about, or that you
feel validated, or some of both? 

Also, on a side note. With the group being down so long, I was unable to
give you a heads up on a few awesome Taiko concerts in Little Tokyo. One
of them was two weeks ago during the Tofu Festival, and was this
incredible performance by Madadaiko Aska Gume. Aside from drums, they
also have some Kabuki and mask dances that are visually stunning to
watch. The other event is coming up this coming weekend, Sept. 2 and is
going to be an all day Taiko festival at the Japanese American theater.
There will be some 7 or 8 drum troupes, some from Japan, participating
in this event. I'm beginning to learn there is more to Taiko than just
KODO, so I thought I would pass that info along to you. 


-- 
Peace, Love and Rock & Roll,

Kailin

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From: jmsatb5 at aol.com (Jms at B5)
Date: 28 Aug 2000 20:18:53 -0700
Lines: 55

>So, is it that
>you are working on something you are really excited about, or that you
>feel validated, or some of both? 

I would suspect it's a combination of things.  In Excalibur it was said, of
Arthur, the king and the land are one; when one suffers the other suffers; when
one flourishes, the other flourishes.

With me, it's always been a case of "joe and the work are one; when one suffers
the other suffers; when one flourishes, the other flourishes."

I'm at my best when I'm doing a lot of things, when the work is solid, and it's
been appreciated by people in the industry, and the number of new coming gigs
kind of validates the work that went before...and, though I know it shouldn't,
it kind of validates me *to* me.  I'm a writer, I define myself as such, so my
self image and the work are inextricably interwoven.  This is not always a good
thing, but by the same token it is not always a bad thing.

So on balance...yeah, I'm happy.  Most days.  Like you, there are some days I'm
most emphatically NOT happy.  I try not to go on line during those moments
because I'm not fun to be around.  But in general I'm more happy than not.

And after Crusade, it wasn't so much that I wasn't *happy* as I was *pissed*. 
I knew what that show was going to become, what it could be, and I was mainly
angry at the loss in terms of talented cast members, the stories we would have
told, and so on.

But I never once considered that it would be a long-term problem.  Every show
runner takes a year or so to get another project going because if you do the
math, there are 10,000+ WGA members, of which a large number are producers,
and, what?, 25 or 30 network series, of which most already have show runners
attached.  It takes time for a slot to come open.  Many EPs have spent as much
as 2-3 years between gigs.  In this case it's just about a year, and that's
very good...not to mention that there's been a lot of other work in the
interim, the Murder She Wrote TV movie, the comic, the radio dramas, that sort
of thing.

And, I must confess, there's a very small part of me that is happy knowing that
there are some people who will be absolutely annoyed to hear that I'm doing
well.  It's a definite character flaw on my part...but it's one I can live
with.

 jms

(jmsatb5 at aol.com)
B5 Official Fan Club at:
http://www.thestation.com
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